


Lord of the Underworld

by slytherinxravenclaw



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Draco Malfoy as Persephone, Harry Potter AU, Harry Potter Greek Mythology AU, Harry Potter as Hades, M/M, Post Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-03 04:45:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15811647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slytherinxravenclaw/pseuds/slytherinxravenclaw
Summary: Harry Potter is the new Lord of the Underworld, but ruling the dead is far more lonely that he imagined until he sees him. Draco Malfoy, the mortal he knows he must have!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [treacletvrts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/treacletvrts/gifts).



> Another story inspired by Treacletvrts on Tumblr, this time for a Hades and Persephone AU with Harry and Draco.

Being lord of the dead was not at all as Harry Potter had expected. It was quieter, and far more lonely than he had anticipated when he had agreed to take the job that night after he’d been killed by Lord Voldemort. Death had offered him a compromise. ‘You can have what remains of Voldemort’s soul, in exchange for becoming the Lord of the Underworld’. At the time it had seemed like a fairly good deal, but the novelty had worn off once Voldemort had been cast into the pits of Tartarus and Harry had been left with little to keep him company save for his pet Cerberus. Harry had almost scoffed at the name, remembering a very similar three headed dog he’d met many years earlier.

Harry kept his distance from the other gods. They were wary of the newcomer and honestly Harry had little time for their antics. He much preferred to watch the living. His friends had mourned his loss, and had seemingly moved on in the decade since, though they raised a toast to him every 2nd of May. He was happy for them, really, _still,_ he couldn’t help but feel so terribly alone in this world below, and then he saw him. The magnificent blond who had, for years enraptured Harry’s attention, drove him mad with emotions he had never been able to put into words. Anger at first, though this had always seemed too convenient, then something stronger. A magnetic pull that he could not seem to avoid. An all consuming obsession that tore through his body like fiendfyre devouring everything else in its path. He _had_ to have him. Harry decided. But he could not leave the Underworld, unless it was to see the gods on Mount Olympus, nor did he wish to kill the blond to get his way. He would have to find another way. Gathering all his strength, Harry forced himself to face the old gods, and made his way to Mount Olympus, where the brother of Harry’s predecessor lived.

Zeus was wary of the raven haired man who had taken over after Hades had vanished. He seemed dangerous, far more dangerous than Hades ever had, and he was fascinating to the old god, but upon seeing the former mortal standing before him, leaning against the edge of a cloud as though he owned the place, Zeus was instantly on guard.

“Potter,” the god said.

“Zeus,” Harry replied, with a smirk.

“What brings you here?” the god asked. Harry grinned.

“Come to ask you for a little favor,” he replied.

“What sort of favor?”

“There’s a mortal. Draco Malfoy, I want him, and you’re going to help me get him,” Harry said. Zeus eyed him. He was hardly opposed to gods and mortals intermingling, but there was something about the thought of Harry specifically doing so which made the god even more suspicious. He had never shown interest in such things before.

“Why him?”

“Because. I want him,” Harry growled. Zeus nodded. He would never admit as much, but the former wizard terrified him greatly. Perhaps because it seemed he had killed his brother, or perhaps it was that he feared no man or god, but Zeus complied, and with that Harry vanished.

—

Draco Malfoy sat in the garden of Malfoy Manor, picking lilies. The decade following the war had not been kind to him, after Potter’s death, the Malfoy’s had been ostracized, and Draco had found himself under house arrest at Malfoy Manor, his wand snapped, and most of his fortune gone. His parents sent to Azkaban. In the years that had followed, Draco had learned to garden, lest he starve, and he had found that growing plants made him happier than he ever could have imagined. Staring down mournfully at the lilies, he closed his eyes giving thanks to the gods for his beautiful garden, when the ground rumbled beneath him. Draco’s eyes widened as the ground shuddered beneath his knees. Before he could stop it, a hole opened up in the earth, and swallowed him whole.

He was falling. Falling and falling through a seemingly endless void of darkness. The world twisted around him, not unlike the feeling of apparating, and then, nothing. The inky black void surrounded him, and for a brief moment, Draco was sure he was dead.

“You’re not,” came a familiar voice from the nothingness. Draco’s eyes widened.

“P-Potter?” he asked.

“Yes,” came the reply. Draco opened his eyes, and gasped. Standing before him was none other than Harry Potter, only he looked… different. His skin was ashen and grayish as though he hadn’t seen the sun in the last decade. He was larger now too, muscled impossibly so, and taller than Draco by a fair amount. His hair was as wild as ever and the inky black mess of it almost looked like what Draco had just fallen through. It was then that he realized that Potter was not wearing glasses, and the lightning shaped scar that had once been such a prominent feature was gone. Yet his eyes were still the familiar emerald hue that he had remembered staring at him for so long.

“Where am I?” Draco asked, as he took in his surroundings. It looked for all the world like his bedroom in the manor, only far less light, and far more foreboding. Surrounded by black bedding, black walls, and black floors.

“Hades,” Harry said, his voice was gravely in a way that Draco did not remember from before and though he would _never_ admit it, it was rather a turn on.

“So I am dead?” Draco said.

“Not quite,” Harry replied. “I asked Zeus to bring you to me,” Harry said.

Draco’s eyes lowered, “You what? Why? How dare you!”

“Because,” Harry said, closing the gap between them. “I love you. You are mine!”

Draco’s eyes widened as he took a step back. “Get a hold of yourself Potter!” he shouted. “Yours? I haven’t seen you in a decade and suddenly you’re laying claim to me? What gives you the right?!” he was shouting now.

“Because I said so,” Harry replied as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

“And who are you?”

“Lord of the Dead,” Harry replied easily. “Ruler of the Underworld, master of souls, and King of the Damned.”

Draco merely snorted, “How very fitting. No longer the boy who lived but the man who ruled death. Very much what Voldemort would have wanted,” he sneered. Harry looked taken aback by that. “Well guess what, lord of the dead, I am not some prize for you to win! I am not an object you can lay claim to! And the Harry Potter I knew would never try to…”

“The Harry Potter _you_ knew is dead!” Harry spat. “He was a fool, who was not powerful enough to go after what he wanted. But I know better. I want you Draco. And I _will_ have you.”

Draco glared. “You think power interests me? I lost my freedom once to a power-hungry madman. If you think I’ll do so again, you might as well kill me now! I’d rather die than be your slave!”

Harry paused, eying the blond. “No. Never slave. My fellow ruler of the underworld. My king. My love.”

Draco glared, “Perhaps this has skipped your notice Potter but you do not _kidnap_ people you love!” he stomped.

Harry frowned, “I’m sorry,” he said suddenly. Draco eyed him, he was certain his attitude would only get him killed, but Harry looked surprisingly somber and Draco wondered if he might not be able to get out of this after all. “I shouldn’t have…” he nodded. “I will let you go,” he said sadly. “But only if you make a deal with me.”

Draco stared at the other man for a moment, there was something about making a deal with the devil that struck him at that moment, but his curiosity got the better of him. “Yes?”

“Come back to me. In the winter. Let me prove my worthiness to you. Let me show you how wonderful your life could be, if only you give me the chance. I promise, I will not kidnap you again, and you may come and go as you please.”

Draco stared at the brunette haired man before him for a long time. Whatever else his mind wanted to tell him that this was a very bad idea, and that he would be wise _not_ to take it, he couldn’t help himself. He had always had very bad impulse control when it came to Harry Potter, and this Harry, so powerful. So strong and dark called to him like a siren that he knew he could _never_ resist.

“Very well,” Draco said, and Harry beamed at him.

“Until then, my love,” Harry said.

For a long time after Draco awoke in his garden, he had wondered if it all wasn’t just a dream. He was _certain_ he’d imagined it, for how could it possibly be true? And yet, as he stared at his lilies, he _knew_ stronger than he’d ever known anything, that it was _not_ a dream, and when the winter came, Draco returned to the Underworld just as he’d promised.


	2. Chapter 2

The room was decidedly lighter the second time around, Draco noted and it was clear that Harry had made a considerable effort this time. Everything remained, black and gothic, but there was a facsimile of light that Harry had created in a window in the room that almost made the room feel less like it was in the Underworld. Draco swallowed back the sudden onslaught of emotion that he felt then, and turned toward’s Harry who was watching him expectantly. “It’s… magnificent,” Draco said breathless.

Harry grinned, “Only the best for you my King,” Harry said. Draco blushed violently at that.

“So, what does one do in the Underworld?” he asked. He had only just noticed a bookshelf containing a surprising number of books on the opposite wall from where he currently stood.

“We could always cross the Styx,” Harry said. “Watch the souls in the Acheron, or play with Cerberus.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at that, “My pet,” Harry said. Well that sounds normal, Draco thought. He remembered just enough of Greek Mythology to know that crossing any rivers was out of the question, and though he suspected eventually a more physical relationship would be expected of him, he wanted the Lord of the Underworld to court him before he would allow for such intimacy. As if reading his thoughts, Harry grinned. Almost instantly the room they were in vanished, replaced instead with the entrance to Hades. Draco gasped as he stared at the river Styx that stood on the other side of him, and the large three headed black dog that guarded the entrance. Harry whistled to the gigantic dog, which bounded over to Harry happily. Draco stared as the dog seemed to shrink, or were they getting bigger, as it approached them. “He’s only a few millennia old,” Harry explained. “Still a puppy really.” Cerberus bounded excitedly over to Draco and nudged his hand with one of its heads. Draco laughed, petting two heads at once, then, feeling guilty at leaving the other head un-pet, he moved his hand from the middle one and reached for the last head giving it a friendly scratch behind the ears. Cerberus let out a happy woof that vibrated the ground beneath their feet and nearly knocked Draco to the ground. Harry smiled as he watched him. “Alright, down boy,” he said. Three heads turned to face their master. “Back to your post,” he said. The dog bounded back over to the entrance where he grew once more until he took up the space of the entrance to the Underworld. Harry smiled at Draco who merely stared at the dog. “If you’d like, we could go to Elysium for a little while,” Harry said.

“Islands of the blessed,” Draco said. He wondered if given everything that had happened after the war he really deserved such a thing. Harry merely smiled.

“I decide that,” Harry said, reading his mind again. Draco frowned.

“Er, could you not read my thoughts?” he asked.

Harry nodded. He really was trying, Draco thought, as Harry held out his hand for him. Draco took it, and quickly snatched his hand back as though burned. Harry’s hand was cold as ice, and Harry frowned. “Sorry,” Harry said. Draco shook his head.

“No, I…” he trailed off. “Just, colder than I expected.” Harry smiled.

“Easily fixed,” he said. The world around them shifted again and suddenly there was a flaming river beside them. Draco’s eyes widened as Harry stepped towards the waters and bent down, sticking his arm into the flames. Draco stared wide eyed as Harry stood up, flames still licking at his skin as he made his way towards him.

“I…” Draco swallowed. The flames disappeared and a moment later Harry grasped Draco’s hand again. Draco flinched, preparing for the burn that never came. Harry’s hand was warm. As if it were still alive and Draco smiled, as the scene around them shifted and a beautiful lush green field appeared before them. Tears sprung to Draco’s eyes as he looked around at the place he was _sure_ no Malfoy deserved to witness. Harry smiled as he watched his mortal, and walked him towards a tree that had sprouted suddenly. It was then that Draco realized that it looked suspiciously like the Hogwarts’ grounds, by the lake. He turned to Harry who merely shrugged.

“It becomes the place you most feel at home,” he said. Draco grinned as he walked towards the tree and plopped down on the grass, patting the spot beside him for Harry to sit. Harry sat, and wrapped his arm around Draco’s shoulders, pulling the other man to his chest as they stared out at the lake. Draco sighed, as he lay in Harry’s arms, it was odd how perfect it felt, Draco thought as he looked around. Harry’s whole body had been warmed by the flames, Draco thought absentmindedly.

“Why are you doing all this for me?” he asked, suddenly.

Harry stared down at him. “I told you I would prove I was worthy of your love,” Harry said.

Draco merely stared, “Harry. Perhaps being Lord of the Underworld has made you forget but I wasn’t exactly a saint to you.”

Harry waved him off, “All in the past.”

“Harry. I don’t want you to just blindly forgive me. I want…” he paused, considering what it was he wanted.

“To be punished?” Harry finished, looking serious suddenly. “You may believe that you and yours deserve Tartarus like Voldemort for your part in the war, but I do not.”

Draco swallowed, “I just… this is a lot,” he admitted.

“You feel unworthy of a gods love.” Harry said, it was not a question. “That’s not the Draco Malfoy I know,” Harry smirked.

“Maybe he’s dead too,” Draco whispered.

“No. You are who you have always been,” Harry said as he placed a hand on Draco’s chest. Draco let his eyes fall closed as Harry spoke. “A magnificent wizard, with a heart secretly of gold. I have seen your sins Draco, and your penance. I have seen into the depths of your soul and I know that you are worthy of everything.”

Draco swallowed as he opened his eyes and stared at Harry. Before he knew what was happening, he leaned in to the god and kissed him. Harry wrapped his arms around Draco’s waist, pulling the blond into his lap as he continued their kiss. Draco shivered as Harry’s lips trailed down his throat. “Oh god,” Draco moaned. Harry grinned against his skin.

“That I am,” he said sucking over Draco’s throat harder. Draco arched up into Harry’s chest, a sudden burning desire ripping through him as Harry held him tight.

“I will court you more before we go further,” Harry said, pulling away suddenly and Draco cursed himself for thinking such foolish things when he had a willing literal _god_ above him. Harry merely chuckled and kissed Draco’s lips. This was going to be a long winter, he thought shaking his head.


	3. Chapter 3

He’d been back in the mortal realm no less than fifteen minutes when Draco ran into Pansy Parkinson, standing outside the Manor looking for all the world as though she might be on the verge of tears. The raven-haired witch looked slightly older than he’d remembered her being the last time he’d seen her. _How long had it been?_ he wondered. 

“Draco,” she said breathless, staring at him as though she’d seen a ghost. Draco smiled.

“Pans,” he said, arms outstretched to offer his friend a hug. Pansy merely stared, as if she still couldn’t believe it was really him.

“I… you…” she stammered over her words and Draco raised an eyebrow. “You were gone,” she said. “Nobody's seen or heard from you in three years!”

Draco swallowed, _had he been gone that long?_ Time was never really a factor in the Underworld. Everything blended together when he was with Harry, but lately, Draco had begun to feel listless. Sure the Elysium was beautiful, and being courted by a god was… more magical than he could have ever imagined, but seeing only Harry had started to feel claustrophobic, which is why he had asked to come back before winter, or, so he’d thought. It wasn’t as though either he or Harry had been paying attention to mortal time. A day in the Underworld didn’t equate the same. He sighed.

“I’m sorry Pans,” he said quietly.

“Sorry?” she said, incredulous. Draco frowned at that, but he couldn’t say that he honestly blamed her so instead he kept his mouth shut. There was nothing he could possibly think to say that would make any of it better and if he were honest he would recognize that the less said the better. He could hardly explain that he’d been in the Underworld cavorting with the Lord of the Dead now could he? Sometimes he could hardly believe it himself and he suspected the added shock of _oh and by the way, said lord of the Underworld is Harry Potter_ would be _far_ too much for his friend to bear. He could see that behind her incredulous tone there was a note of fear and sadness and he couldn’t help but feel guilty at how selfish he’d been this whole time. It hadn’t even occurred to him that anyone would miss him while he was gone.

As they caught up over tea, Draco tried to think of a way to properly explain where he’d vanished to. France was, while believable, out of the question. They _knew_ too many people in France and Pansy herself was known to go there too often with Granger. Whom Draco had learned was close to making Minister. Halfway through an excited chat about her time with her now fiance (Draco really  _had_ missed a lot), Draco realized that he needn't have bothered coming up with a believable story of where he'd been the last three years. Pansy was nothing if not the perfect pureblood and Slytherin, who often employed a  _don't ask, don't tell_ policy when it came to most matters. She didn't ask, and Draco didn't tell. 

"You will come to the wedding though won't you?" she asked. "You're not going to go missing again." Draco sighed, hiding his frown behind his teacup. He  _wanted_ to tell his friend that of course, he would make it to her wedding. He wanted nothing more than to see her married off to the love of her life. He had already missed so much, he realized and that thought made his chest hurt. But what about Harry. Less than three hours in the mortal realm and he already missed his god terribly. He might have gone to him that night too, only he knew that he couldn't. He loved Harry, more than he imagined possible, and he knew that the time spent away from him would only serve to drive him mad, but the truth was he  _didn't_ miss the Underworld. It had only taken a mere six hours and a breeze across Draco's skin for him to realize how miserable he'd been. Sure he had busied himself in dates with Harry. In the beauty of the Elysium and Harry's powerful all-encompassing kisses but now that he was away from it he knew he couldn't bring himself to go back. He missed his magic, his friends, the feeling of sunshine on his skin, and the wet Wiltshire air. This was his home, and he realized with a strange sense of dread that he missed it more than he'd be willing to admit. 

 

Falling to his knees in the Manor garden just after sunset, Draco cried out to the heavens. "Zeus! Help me!" 

A crack of thunder echoed through the sky suddenly, landing with a bang that shook the grounds a few hundred feet from where he stood. Draco froze as a tall, muscular, white-haired god appeared before him from the thunder. Zeus.

“You called?” Zeus said, his voice thunderous and powerful. So much different from Harry's. Draco swallowed.

“I need help,” Draco said. The man merely stared as Draco continued. “Harry Potter…” Zeus’s face twinged at the name.

“Lord of the Underworld,” the god said.

“Can he… is there any way to bring him back here?”

“Are you displeased with his decision?” Draco frowned.

“This is my home,” he said. “Harry belongs with me.” Zeus gave Draco a pointed look at that, then nodded.

“If you so wish, but you must return to the Underworld yourself and give him the news, then I will grant it so.” Draco swallowed hard at this, he felt unsure. Something about Zeus's face gave Draco the distinct impression that this was a trap. But before he could argue, another clap of thunder tore a hole in the earth below Draco’s feet and he was falling through the void again.

He was used to it now, and each time it was less and less jarring.

Still, as Draco appeared in the familiar bedroom in which he always seemed to land, he could already tell something was different. There was a foreboding stillness in the air surrounding him, whipping around, Draco nearly leaped as he came face to face with a very enraged Harry.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” the god demanded. Draco paled. He hadn’t seen Harry so enraged in years, not since he was alive at least. There was a dark power that emanated from the god, one that in another time might have been sexy but at this moment terrified Draco to no end.

“I…” Draco tried only to be cut off by Harry.

“I saw you. Consorting with Zeus,” he glared. “Trying to sneak behind my back to make me human again!” he roared.

“Harry please.”

“No! You had no right!” he said with a growl.

“Harry,” Draco was nearly in tears now, but the god would not hear of it.

“GET. OUT!” he yelled, and with that Draco was tossed out of the Underworld just as quickly as he’d appeared. When he'd arrived back in the mortal realm, Zeus was gone, and Draco was left feeling decidedly miserable as he stared at the ground, and weapt. 


	4. Chapter 4

Harry was furious, and more than one minion had fallen victim to his wrath as he seethed with unbridled rage.

“I GIVE HIM THE WORLD AND THIS IS HOW HE REPAYS ME?!” Harry roared. The world trembled beneath his feet as Harry stormed through his abode of the damned. Cerberus cowered in the corner from his master, even the ferryman had avoided Harry as of late. It had been weeks since Draco’s forced departure and Harry had become increasingly more bitter as time went on.

“Trouble in paradise?” Zeus asked, looking decidedly proud of himself. Harry glared at the old god.

“Fuck off!” Zeus tsked at him.

“Such language at a god.”

“I’m a god too!” Harry spat.

“For now.”

“You can’t honestly think I’m going to agree to that!” Zeus shrugged.

“You asked for him specifically. Surely you knew it was only a matter of time before the mortal grew weary of…”

“It hardly matters!” Harry said, growing more and more furious.

“My boy…” he said clapping Harry on the shoulder in a way that made the new god even more enraged. It was enough to make him want to snap the man’s hand right off. “Your anger only proves your love for him.”

“What do you know of love?” Harry hissed. The god merely gave him a shrug.

“Just that humans are rather fond of a word they do not understand… and you were human once,” Harry frowned as the god vanished, leaving him alone to his darkened world that felt so much more empty without Draco in it, he realized. Harry growled. He could not stand a world without Draco, and the possibility of leaving the Underworld, was both terrifying and he supposed, long overdue. Death had forbidden it but Harry had never been one for the rules, and with that, Harry took the ferry across the river Styx, and out to the land beyond the Underworld, to Malfoy Manor.

 

* * *

Draco lay curled up in his bed, sobbing. It had been two weeks, and Draco had barely been able to leave the house. He hadn’t realized when he’d fallen so madly in love with Harry, only that he had and now that seemed over. His chest clenched, as he realized what it meant. That he was alone. He barely heard the small crack of aparition that announced the house elf’s arrival.

“Master Draco,” the elf said quietly. Draco sniffed. “There is a man here to see you.”

Draco groaned, “I don’t want visitors, Miffy,” he said through a sniff.

“I understands master. Only… he is being Harry Potter. And he is powerful and Miffy is frightened.” Draco sat up fast as he stared out the elf.

“Harry. Here?” he said. The elf nodded, its bat-like ears flopping as it did so. Draco shot up from the bed and ran towards the stairs, taking them two at a time as he spotted the raven-haired god standing in the foyer. Draco gasped. He had never seen Harry in proper light before. He was even more grey than Draco had realized, he had an almost other-worldly appearance.

“Harry,” Draco said.

“I’m sorry,” the god said after a moment, shaking his head. “I can’t believe how foolish I was.”

Draco smiled at him, as he crossed the space between them, and allowed Harry to wrap him up in his strong arms, blushing wildly. “You came for me,” Draco said.

Harry smiled, “How could I not?”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked…” Harry shook his head.

“I understand,” he said. My time in the Underworld, it’s been terribly lonely without you. I realized that I don’t care where I am, or what I am, just as long as I’m with you.” Draco felt tears stinging at his cheeks as Harry held him tight. “I love you Draco,” Harry whispered.

Draco beamed. “I love you too Harry.” For a long moment, the two stayed like that, held in each other's embrace. Finally, much too soon for Draco’s liking, Harry pulled away.

“I… I’m not sure if it’s possible,” he said after a moment.

“Zeus said he would do it,” Draco said. Harry bristled at the name like the other god had done at the mention of Harry’s name.

“Very well,” Harry said, and put his fingers to his lips and whistled. Draco covered his ears, the noise almost deafening, as with another crack of thunder the god appeared in his sitting room. Zeus looked somewhat forlorn at the sight of Harry standing there.

“You’ve decided then?” he asked. Harry nodded. “Very well,” he said and turned towards Draco. “You must leave now.” Draco glared, and left the two gods in the next room, as he waited anxiously in the sitting room.

Time felt as though it had come to a standstill, as Draco paced his sitting room waiting for the telltale crack of thunder that would signify Zeus’s exit. After what felt like hours, the crack of thunder echoed around the room, and Draco ran out into the hall, to find Harry laying on the ground, unconscious, but looking considerably more human. Draco eyed him, placing a hand under his nose to ensure he was still breathing. He was.

Draco exhaled the breath he’d been holding as he pushed Harry’s hair back. Harry gasped, his eyes cracking open as he took in the room around him. Draco smiled down at him. “How do you feel?” he asked. Harry looked up at the blond wizard, horrified.

“Stay away from me!” he said, crawling back away from Draco as fast as he could. Draco stared at him. “I’m warning you Malfoy,” he patted his pants, in search of his wand. “Where’s my wand?” he demanded.

“Harry?”

“What do you want with me? Where am I?”

Draco frowned, “What’s the last thing you remember?” Draco asked.

“I was in the Forbidden Forest,” Harry said. “I’d just been hit with the killing curse. Am I… is this hell?” he asked.

Draco growled, but before Harry could ask another question, Draco had turned on his heel and vanished with a crack.

* * *

Mt. Olympus was bright as Draco appeared in front of the gods, all assembled there. Several of them, trembled as the blond walked past, making his way towards the white-haired god.

“Zeus!” he yelled, his voice was indistinguishable from the one he normally used. It was deeper and more menacing, and it sent a shiver through the spine of all the gods surrounding him. The white-haired god turned around an amused smile on his face.

“Thanatos,” the god said.

“Think you're funny do you?”

“Do you really want him to remember everything?” the god asked in challenge. Draco glared his usual grey eyes now a deep, menacing black. “He’ll know it was you. You who punished him to his fate. Who gave him that choice.”

“Return his memories at once Zeus!” the god of death said.

“As you wish,” Zeus replied and snapped his fingers. Draco vanished on the spot.

* * *

The manor was colder than Harry had remembered, though somehow impossibly comforting, still, a question was eating at him. _Why am I here? How did I get here?_ The crack of aparation startled Harry out of his thoughts. Turning around to face the man before him, Harry froze. He felt as though he’d been struck by lightning as a wash of memories flooded his brain.

_A bright green light had struck him. Then an inky black void had surrounded him._

Grey eyes. It was the first thing Harry had remembered seeing when he’d awoken. Grey eyes, and the most beautiful blond hair. Surely he was in heaven, he had thought.

“Harry Potter,” the blond haired man had said. “We meet again.” Harry stared as the man in the white suit had offered him a seat at the desk that had appeared suddenly before him. Harry had swallowed and taken the seat as he stared at the blond. _Why did he look so familiar?_ “I’m Thanatos,” he had said, as if reading Harry's mind. “But you can call me, Draco.” Harry’s eyes had widened.

“But you’re…”

“I’ve been watching you carefully these past few years. After you arrived the first time as a baby, I decided it was best if I watched over you personally," he said by way of explanation.

“But. Why were you so cruel to me?” Harry asked, feeling somewhat foolish.

“You misunderstand,” he had said. “This is a vessel. A convenient one at that. After you nearly killed the poor boy in sixth year, well… I found it much easier to watch over you from this vantage point.”

Harry had gasped. “But then…”

“Harry you understand the implication of what I’m telling you," the blond said cutting him off. "You’re dead. I am the god of death.” Harry nodded, and Draco smiled. “I’ve watched you carefully and I must say your power is impressive, to say the least. I’d like to offer you a deal.”

Harry had merely stared at the god before him. “What sort of deal?”

The god had smirked, “My boss has become… shall we say, a bit of a problem for me.” Harry raised an eyebrow, but Draco merely continued. “I wish to replace him, so I’m offering you the position. Become Lord of the Underworld. Master of the damned, ruler of Hades, in exchange, I will give you the thing I know that you crave more than anything.” Harry had stared into the grey eyes of the man before him. “The last remnant’s of Voldemort’s soul.” Harry gasped as the piece of soul appeared on the desk before them. Looking like a baby that had been flayed. Harry had nearly screamed, his stomach lurching at the sight.

"I don't want..." he had trailed off as Draco raised an eyebrow at him. Harry had looked from the baby to Draco, and back again, as Draco held out his hand for Harry. Harry had swallowed and took the god's hand.

Suddenly thrust into the present, Harry stared at the blond before him.

“It was you,” he said, as he stormed towards the blond, shoving him up against the wall. “You… but…” the love for Draco was still there, he realized. But he was so conflicted. Draco frowned.

“I can bring him back if you wish it,” he said barely above a whisper. Harry gasped. “Everything I said, I meant, and I know this vessel feels it too. The love for you. He’s here still.” Harry sighed.

“Please… Thanatos, give him to me. The _real_ him.” Sad grey eyes met with green, and the blond nodded and suddenly he collapsed in Harry’s arms, as Harry saw a black cloud of smoke exit Draco’s mouth, looking much like a dementor. The cloud gave him one last lingering glance, then shot up into the air, and vanished. Harry held tightly to the blond in his arms, laying him down on the floor carefully.

Moments later, Draco’s eyes fluttered open and he stared up at Harry.

“H—Harry?” he asked. Harry nodded with a grin. “Is he gone?”

“Yes,” Harry said, as he leaned down to kiss Draco gently upon the lips. Draco sighed into the kiss and allowed himself to be held by Harry.

* Nine Months Later *

As Fall gave way to winter, Draco and Harry found themselves excitedly approaching Pansy and Hermione's wedding. Draco had agreed to be a bridesmaid for Pansy and Harry for Hermione. Neither one spoke of the bizarre events that had proceeded their getting together, the fact that Draco had only hazy memories of his life after sixth year, and Harry didn't seem all that keen to fill him in had worked for them. Still, he had strange dreams, of black rooms, and a powerful Harry, who kissed like he controlled the Universe and held a barely concealed dark power. Sometimes he woke up so desperately turned on from it, he would climb on Harry's lap, and kiss him awake, and let Harry have his wicked way with him. 

Pansy never did ask where Draco had gone for those three years, Hermione had tried, but after Harry had shot her a dangerous look, she had quickly dropped the subject and Draco had been grateful for it. He couldn't have answered even if he tried. 

The wedding was magnificent, and Draco had cried,  __though he refused to admit it, and Harry was certain that he wanted this someday with Draco. A wedding, a family, a life all their own. A life together, the former lord of the underworld, and his Persephone, and if Draco didn't understand Harry's new found love of that particular mythology, well, Harry didn't feel the need to explain it to him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... when I originally started this story I didn't quite have an idea what I wanted the story to be about, but I ended up coming up with this idea for the end of the story, and I'm glad I went with it. I obviously took artistic liberties from the original Greek mythology that definitely doesn't end this way but... I think it works.


End file.
